TEE BALL

-All week night games begin at 5:45pm and late games scheduled at 7pm.

-Saturday games are played at 9:30am, 10:45am, and 12pm.

-Any and all changes must be approved by the appropriate division coordinator and require 48 hours notice. Make up games will be scheduled on Sundays if necessary.

GAMES

-All games are a maximum of 6 innings or 75 minutes, whichever is reached first.

-No inning can start with less than 10 minutes to play within the allotted 75 minute time period.

-An inning will consist of 3 outs or the entire roster has batted.

Field Practice- There will be no batting practice on the field within ½ hour of the game. Visitors get the field for 15 minutes one half hour before the game. Home team receives the field the last 15 minutes prior to the game.

PLAYERS

-Each team will play ALL its players in the field, with 6 players in the infield and the remaining players in the outfield.

-A team can play with any reasonable number of players if they are short. Players may be recruited from the other team or any other SBBA TEE BALL TEAM (there are no forfeits).

-There will be no more than 2 defensive coaches in the field directing his/her players.

-One offensive coach will work the tee and give instruction to his/her batters.

-Every child will have the opportunity to play pitcher in at least 4 innings per season. Coaches are to keep track of this..

-In the event a team cannot field 10, substitute players can be temporarily assigned from the division below. A coach will be given 15 minutes to acquire players. If they cannot field 8 players before their inning in the field starts, that team will forfeit the game.

BATTING

-The ball must travel beyond the chalk circle in front of home plate in order to be in play.

-A second home plate will be placed approximately 4 feet up the third base line. This will be used to score runs and make outs.

-A full swing must be attempted. There are no strikeouts, bunting, stealing, or leadoffs in Tee Ball.

-The pitcher must wear a batting helmet while in the field.

-Catchers will wear full equipment to help protect from thrown bats, collisions, etc.

-Any batter throwing a bat will be warned and if he/she continues they will be ruled “out” after every offense.

-All base runners and batters must wear batting helmets while batting or running the bases.

-There is no advancement on overthrows.

Once the ball is returned to the infield it is ruled a dead ball and base runners will advance/return to the closest base.

-South Buffalo Baseball Assn. uses a “Continuous Batting Order”. Coaches will allow every player present for the game to bat.

-In the event that a batter is injured while at bat, the next batter in the order takes his/her place. If a player is unable to continue the game, the next time he/she is scheduled to bat, the team will simply skip over said player without penalty, and continue the game (this rule also applies to players forced to leave due to family emergencies, etc.).

-In the event that a player is injured while running, the last recorded out by that team may be used to substitute for the injured base runner.

-Teams will only be allowed to bat through their batting order once or for three outs (whichever comes first).

-No runner will be allowed to run into another player. They must either slide, go back to the base from which they came, or give themselves up for an out. A player who violates this rule will be called out and if, in the umpire’s judgment, it was intentional, the player will be ejected from the game.

EQUIPMENT

-No metal spikes are allowed.

-Bats with a barrel width of 2 ¼ or less are allowed. There is no length to weight-drop ratio restriction.

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**S.B.B.A.’S MAIN GOAL FOR TEE BALL IS TO TEACH THE VERY BASIC FUNDAMENTALS OF BASEBALL, WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF TEACHING MORE ADVANCED TECHNIQUES ONCE THOSE ARE MASTERED.**

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UPON LEAVING TEE BALL AND STARTING COACHES PITCH, EVERY CHILD SHOULD KNOW HOW TO:

A.) RUN THE BASES CORRECTLY

B.) ONCE TOLD TO GO TO A POSITION, BE ABLE TO GO TO THAT SPOT WITH LITTLE OR NO ASSISTANCE.

C.) START TO RECOGNIZE THE CORRECT BASE TO THROW TOO.

D.) START TO UNDERSTAND THE BASIC FIELDING PRINCIPLES (KEEPING THE BALL IN FRONT OF THEM,ETC)